So what happened to all the other uses of eInk?

Posted on January 26, 2011 by switch11

The Kindle and Nook use eInk, and it’s marvellous.

Which makes you wonder – Why isn’t it used in other devices and for other uses?

There are a few small watch companies making eInk powered watches.

Update: Thanks to Common Sense and Maxine and Russ for some more uses of eInk.

We have a technology that has helped transform Publishing, one that does some pretty amazing things such as not use any power to display an image and power a device to 1 month of battery life. It really should be used for a lot more uses.

What else could eInk be used for?

Let’s make some wild guesses -

  1. Displays on other devices.
  2. Price Tags in stores.
  3. Notebooks.
  4. Outdoor displays. Tack on a solar cell to an eInk display and you have a great low-cost display.
  5. Posters and even wallpapers.
  6. Medical Charts.
  7. T-Shirts. D A N C E.
  8. Labels to use around the house. Peel a label off one jar, change the caption, and put it on another jar.
  9. Reflectors – Switch eInk to all-white when you want more light, and switch to all-black when you want less light.
  10. Board Games – Scrabble where you don’t have to place letters on boards.
  11. Name Tags.

The one thing that keeps coming up is the lack of color. In fact, once color eInk is cheap and plentiful we might see some drastic changes.

Color eInk Uses

Well, here are a few possibilities -

  1. Color eInk instead of Advertisement Posters and Hoardings.
  2. Color eInk Sheets handed out instead of flyers.
  3. Menus that use color eInk instead of paper.
  4. Clothes. Sooner or later someone is going to figure out that clothes that can change color and patterns to match the rest of your outfit are a killer idea.
  5. Heating and Cooling. eInk Panels outside houses – In summer they are all white and reflect out heat. In winter they are all black and transfer heat indoors.
  6. Replace screens of all sorts.
  7. Traffic Lights. Instead of having lights that consume a lot of energy we could use eInk to run lights (at least during the day) using very little energy.
  8. Public Signs.
  9. Road markings and dividers. eInk reflects so it’s a good candidate. This might be a bit of a stretch.
  10. Shipping Labels. Re-use the same label 10,000 times.
  11. Accessories. Bracelets that can change color to match your clothes.
  12. Color eInk panels and labels built into devices and bags and books – Set your name and address and then you never have to worry about tags and address labels.

I’m still stuck in the box of thinking of eInk as mostly a paper replacement. There have to be more ways of using color eInk. The Arizona State research team is building wearable solar-powered eInk panels for soldiers. There are just so many possibilities.

Why aren’t people implementing newer, other uses of eInk?

In a way all of us readers are helping take eInk to a stage where it is cheap enough to power lots of other uses. Currently, 6″ black and white eInk panels are probably $40 to $60, and 6″ color eInk panels are probably $50 to $100.

We may, in 2 to 3 years, hit a point where the same sized panels are $2 for black and white eInk and $5 for color eInk. At that point a lot of other uses (posters, labels, clothes) become viable.

eReaders are the first market eInk is taking over/creating. Over the course of the next 5 to 10 years we might see eInk show up in a lot of surprising places.

Filed under: evolution | Tagged: , | 11 Comments »

Kindle 3 shortages possible, 10 million+ eReaders in 2010 – eInk maker

Posted on August 11, 2010 by switch11

The possibility that the Kindle 3 will run into shortages is brought up in a report in the Taipei Times covering eInk maker PVI/eInk. Lots of interesting snippets about eReaders from that and other articles so let’s dive in.

eInk Holdings Inc. on the Kindle 3

Taipei Times brings us lots of Kindle 3 and eReader insights from eInk maker eInk/PVI -

world’s No. 1 e-paper display maker said operating income spiked 76 percent last quarter, thanks to strong demand for e-­readers such as the Kindle

We are very satisfied with the growth of e-reader sales … Amazon’s new Kindle is outfitted with our new-generation Pearl e-paper display and supply could become tight as pre-sales are excellent,” company chairman Scott Liu told investors.

That, to some extent, countered concerns about iPad’s erosion of consumer support for e-readers, said Liu

The other interesting parts -

  1. 65% of eInk’s revenue comes from ePaper displays.  
  2. It says it doesn’t see substantial progress by any of its ePaper rivals.
  3. eInk is ready with colored eInk displays and China’s Hanvon will be the first company to bring those to market.
  4. Sales of eReaders are expected to double to 20 million next year.

Interestingly, eInk also makes flat panels for the iPad (think it is one of two or three suppliers).

Kindle DX shipments tripled with DX 2, over 10 million eReaders this year

DigiTimes has the scoop on the impact of the Kindle DX 2 -

Shipments for the 9.7-inch Kindle DX tripled when Amazon reduced the prices for the model to US$379 from the previous US$489, Liu noted,

That’s pretty impressive. Didn’t realize that the price-cut and the eInk Pearl screen made such a huge difference.

eInk/PVI also predicts over 10 million eReaders sold in 2010 -

Price-cut competition for e-book readers among global vendors including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony and Hanvon is expected to stimulate demand in the second half of 2010, with total shipments expected to be 2-3 times those in the first half,

… worldwide e-book reader shipments are expected to exceed the previous forecast of 10 million units in 2010 due to vendors’ price cuts

Mr. Liu also made a few interesting points -

  1. He expects that companies who don’t have content support might be forced out of the market due to low prices on the Kindle 3 and Nook (he mentions B&N so perhaps he knows something we don’t). 
  2. eInk’s Clients have already hit enough sales volume for special discount pricing to kick in.
  3. Soon vendors will be able to provide sub $100 eReaders (He said – judging from the market growth).

It’s remarkable that 7 months into 2010 the eReader companies have already hit enough sales to get bulk discounts on ePaper. With the lower prices of Kindle 3 and Kindle WiFi (and perhaps of Nook 2) eInk/PVI’s prediction of over 10 million eReaders being sold in 2010 might come true.  

eInk launches two touch capable eInk screens

DigiTimes reports on two touch screen solutions from eInk (perhaps we see them in Kindle 4 or in Kindle DX 3) -

E Ink has recently launched two EPDs, one of them being a capacitive touch solution and the other an electromagnetic one, Liu said.

The EPDs are currently being validated by clients, and the company expects products featuring the new panels will hit the market by the end of 2010 or at the beginning of 2011, he said.

Wonder where the Sony Reader Touch Edition’s screen fits in – Haven’t we had that for over a year and isn’t that eInk based touch?

DigiTimes also has good coverage of color eInk -

China-based vendor Hanvon has adopted its color EPD and is scheduled to launch e-book readers using the color EPD in the fourth quarter, Liu said.

E Ink’s latest Pearl EPD with color filter (CF) … will have better response time and reflection, Liu explained, 

… E Ink expects color e-book readers to account for 10% of the global e-book reader market in 2011.

Perhaps PVI/eInk thinks color eReaders will only have 10% market share because they will be markedly more expensive or not as good as black and white eInk. If color eInk is simply a color filter over eInk Pearl then the latter seems to be the likelier possibility.

It’s all very remarkable.

Summary – Good Times ahead for Kindle 3 and eReaders

It seems that the Kindle 3 is doing very well and is expected to continue to do well. The main takeaways -

  1. Kindle 3 shortages possible – in my opinion they are quite likely. 
  2. The Kindle WiFi might hit sub $100 prices by end of the year. As might a few other eReaders.
  3. eReaders sporting 2 new touch capable eInk screens might arrive by end 2010 or early 2011.
  4. Hanvon might bring an eInk Pearl based color screen eReader to market in Q4, 2010.
  5. 10 million+ eReader sales in 2010.
  6. 20 million eReaders might be sold in 2011.
  7. eReaders and eInk are both doing just fine.

The sad part is that eInk/PVI seems pretty confident it doesn’t have any viable competitors and it does seem that way. The really good part is that it’s likely the $139 Kindle WiFi will hit the $100 mark by end 2010.

Filed under: availability | Tagged: , | 5 Comments »

Kindle DX 2 screen contrast improvement analysis

Posted on July 8, 2010 by switch11

The improved Kindle DX 2 screen contrast is its big selling point. Amazon hasn’t really revealed too much about what led to this improved screen contrast.

Well, let’s take a closer look and see what factors might have helped improve the Kindle DX 2′s screen contrast.

Kindle DX 2 Screen Contrast Improvement – possible Factors

Here are the 3 factors that we can identify right away -

  1. Actual hardware improvements. eInk say the Pearl screen has 10:1 contrast as compared to the 7:1 contrast in previous versions. Quite frankly it doesn’t really seem like the hardware improvement by itself is 43%. In terms of measurements we have this from Bruce Wilson’s comment at Teleread -

    From density numbers alone – white is a little whiter, black is a lot blacker.

    Old White Kindle DX 1 (6 months old):
    white area density = 0.46, Lab = (65.8, -2.3, 0.6)
    black area density = 1.30, Lab = (26.6, -1.0, -2.2)

    New Graphite Kindle DX 2:
    white area density = 0.42, Lab = (68.2, -2.4, 0.9)
    black area density = 1.58, Lab = (18.5, -0.1, -3.6)

    I used a Datacolor Spectrocolorimeter model 1005. “Lab” is a color space measurement like RGB, only for print.

  2. Graphite Casing. Amazon have implied this is not factored into the 50% better contrast – However, it’s clear after playing around with the Kindle DX 2 that the graphite casing has quite an important role in making the screen look better.  
  3. Speckling on the Screen. There are very tiny speckles on the screen of the Kindle DX 2 when you zoom in. Click on the last photo on the Kindle DX 2 Photo page to see this speckling. When photos have noise like this added to them it improves their contrast – It’s hard to believe there could be any other reason speckling would be added to the screen of the Kindle DX 2.

We also have two additional possibilities –  

  1. Software improvements. Kindle software upgrades have improved Kindle screen contrast in the past by making the text bolder and it’s possible that Kindle DX 2 comes with some software improvements. Kindle DX 2 comes with firmware version 2.5.5 and it makes you wonder if that firmware version includes screen contrast tweaks.
  2. Additional changes in the screen hardware. There’s a very interesting mention in the official Kindle forum that the Kindle DX 2 screen is noticeably whiter if you tilt it a little rather than look at it straight on. For my Kindle DX 2 this is true – It’s noticeably whiter when tilted a little. Is this by design? Is this a byproduct of the new screen technology?  

The former is very, very likely while we understand too little about the latter to factor it in.

Breaking down the supposed 50% screen contrast improvement

After shooting a lot of Kindle DX 2 videos and taking a lot of photos and comparing screens in all sorts of lighting conditions it seems to me -

  1. Compared to Kindle 2 Global – Kindle DX 2 screen is 25% to 30% better normally, 30% better in sunlight, and 30% better when Kindle DX 2 and Kindle 2 are both tilted a bit. 
  2. Compared to Kindle DX 1 – Kindle DX 2 screen is 40% better normally, 45% better in sunlight or when both are tilted a bit.

There isn’t really a 50% improvement in screen contrast. It’s 40% to 45% when compared with Kindle DX 2 and 25% to 30% when compared with Kindle 2 Global. 

Furthermore it seems that this 40% improvement is broken down into -

  1. Half due to hardware improvements. If the spectrocolorimeter readings are correct hardware improvements might be responsible for as much as three-quarters of the improvement.
  2. A quarter due to the graphite casing. 
  3. A quarter due to the speckling.

The Kindle 2 Global screen is much closer to the Kindle DX 2 ‘better hardware screen’ than the Kindle DX 1 screen. This might be due to software tweaks or International Kindle 2s getting better screens or perhaps my Kindle 2 global was an exceptionally good version.

How did 50% screen contrast improvement and a graphite case and speckling and possible software improvements add up to 40%?

Well, it seems that eInk messed up and Amazon did as much as they could to make up for it.

Seriously – Look at the videos and photos. If you happen to have any of the earlier Kindles and the Kindle DX 2 compare them in various lighting conditions. If eInk’s claim is valid and there’s a 50% screen contrast improvement then it means that the graphite casing and the speckling and the software improvements (if any) contributed minus 10%.

The far more likely case is that eInk did a terrible job with their screens and improved just 20%. Then Amazon did a lot of brainstorming and came up with the graphite case and the speckling design for the screen and software improvements to get to 40%.

Amazon better hope Pixel Qi or Qualcomm Mirasol deliver color eInk screens soon because Amazon can’t keep compensating for eInk’s inadequacies with software upgrades and smart design decisions. The new Kindle DX 2 has managed to use almost every design and software trick possible to improve screen contrast (we’re including font sharpness improvements in the Kindle 2.5 upgrade). It’s had to because the actual screen technology from eInk isn’t improving fast enough.

Quick Summary 

Yes, Kindle DX 2 has a noticeably better screen. No, eInk isn’t responsible for all of the improvement. If eInk really would have improved their eInk screens 50% we would be looking at 70% to 75% better screen contrast on the Kindle DX 2.

Filed under: kindle dx 2 | Tagged: , , | 6 Comments »

PVI supplies Kindle, iPad screen technology

Posted on April 21, 2010 by switch11

If you thought it was impressive that PVI/eInk supply screens for the Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook, and pretty much every dedicated eReader device, wait till you hear this (via Electronista and Wall Street Journal) -

Hydis Technology Co., Prime View’s South Korean subsidiary, … provides a key display technology used in Apple Inc.’s iPad …

… the technology, known as advanced fringe field switching, that widens the screen’s viewing angles and improves visibility

Apple refers to the technology as IPS – in-place switching.

PVI’s IPS technology and LG Display ties

Here’s a little more on PVI’s in-plane switching technology from DigiTimes -

The Hydis-developed FFS technology has been further developed into AFFS (advanced fringe field switching) and AFFS+. The benefits of AFFS technologies include readability under sunlight, low power consumption, wide viewing angle, fast response time and high brightness, PVI said.

Note that the iPad does not have the readability under sunlight promised in AFFS (perhaps it has FFS, AFFS’ predecessor) – However, it does indicate that a future version may well be readable in sunlight.

WSJ fills in some details on how PVI technology got into the iPad -

Prime View in December signed a cross-licensing pact with LG Display Co., which analysts have said is likely one of the iPad’s flat-panel suppliers.

LG Display said that it would invest $30.5 million in Hydis through a bond purchase, following a $10 million investment in Prime View

Electronista point out that there is a $500 million Apple-LG Display deal -

Apple hasn’t confirmed the deals and doesn’t normally divulge which companies supply its individual components. It did recently strike a $500 million deal with LG Display to produce screens across its lineup.

It’s interesting to see PVI gradually grow and expand. The deal with LG Display in December 2009 was their second major deal of the year. PVI had bought eInk Corporation of Cambridge Massachusetts in June 2009 for $215 million.

PVI shows off new eReader Screen technology

T3 has two videos of new eInk screens from PVI that are promised to reach eReader makers by end 2010 and customers by end 2010 or early 2011. Great to know that technology that should have arrived a year ago is still a year away.

Here’s what’s promised -

improvement from the standard 7:1 contrast ratio screens – to the much easier on the eye 12:1 ratio – and a faster refresh rate. E Ink claims this refresh rate is fast enough to support simple animations.

Another prototype shown boasts a larger flexible display with claims from E Ink that it’s tough enough to take a fair size impact without it blinking a single pixel.

On the plus side the eInk display in the first video has excellent contrast.

Companies that profit from both Kindle and iPad

There are lots of companies that are profiting from both Kindle and iPad -

  1. PVI is perhaps one of the most critical since they supply the key screen technology for both Kindle and iPad.  
  2. FoxConn – It manufactures the Kindle and Apple devices like iPhone – making it likely it’s also manufacturing the iPad. 
  3. Amazon – Yes, that’s right. Kindle for iPad’s 480,000 books and worldwide availability is much more impressive than the iBooks’ 60,000 books and US only availability.
  4. Newspaper and magazine publishers.
  5. Book Publishers.

It’s an interesting thought – while the Press keep playing up the Kindle vs iPad angle, multiple companies, including Amazon, just see them as two separate channels/devices that can both be a source of profit.

Filed under: kindle | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Flexible eInk screens – the possibilities

Posted on September 15, 2009 by switch11

For all the talk of flexible eInk screens there’s not really been much discussion of what their actual impact would be. Let’s explore if there’s more to flexible eInk than we realize.

What are the Obvious Benefits of flexible eInk screens? 

The first few benefits that spring to mind are pretty significant -

  1. Unbreakable or difficult to break screens.  
  2. The option to make eReaders foldable and/or rollable and thus more convenient and portable.
  3. A similar, but not identical, benefit is the possibility to give small form factor devices screens that are double or triple in size.
  4. The ability to expand use of eInk screens to a variety of non-flat products i.e. watches, clothing, etc.

Take a look at this video (00:25 onwards; sort of not safe for work; some people could be offended by intro/outro/a few of the designs) for what eInk based, infinitely redesignable T-Shirts could be like.

What are some of the other possible benefits of flexible eInk screens?

With a little thought we get into some really interesting uses –  

  1. Using rolling screens or double screens to eliminate eInk reload delays.

    You could refresh the part that is not currently shown while the reader is reading the part that is shown.

    This could be in the form of a back screen that refreshes while the front screen is being read and then replaces the front screen.
    Or it could literally be a rolling display that scrolls around and refreshes lines of eInk before they are visible.

  2. Switching between concave and convex modes to better adjust to conditions i.e.

    When you want more privacy or want less reflections and less outside light you switch to concave mode.

    When you want to be able to catch more light or read while lying in bed and at obtuse angles, you switch to convex mode. Convex mode would also be useful when adding freehand notes.

  3. Rigid Screen Versus Flexible Screen mode of the eReader where users can choose what works better for them. 

How could use of flexible eInk screens in other areas help eReaders?

Making eInk screens flexible adds the possibilityof using them in lots of other areas i.e.

  1. In defence (the Arizona State project with the US Army is focused on flexible wearable displays for soldiers).
  2. On clothing and in watches. 
  3. In retail displays. 
  4. For cellphones.

This leads to innovations that can be brought back to eReaders. For example, solar powered eInk (which Neolux is already working on).

Even more importantly it leads to advances in eInk technology and price drops that are crucial for eReaders to become more popular.

Filed under: evolution | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

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